Lander University President Dr. Daniel Ball delivered the final State of the University Address of his presidency on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and he gave some parting advice to faculty, staff and his successor. Ball will retire as Lander’s president at the end of June 2015, after serving 15 years as the university’s chief executive.

Po Hu, Lander University's new Dean of International Programs, was born and raised in Sichuan, a province in southwest China famous for its sanctuaries that protect about 30 percent of the world's giant pandas. The province, also well known for its tasty cuisine and beautiful natural scenery, is home to about 100-million people, or one-tenth of China's population.

A delegation of Lander University faculty members and administrators are in Thailand for an international conference on Technology and Innovation Development for Sustainability. The conference is sponsored by Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nkhon in Bangkok, which is one of Lander's 11 sister institutions of higher education in Thailand, South Korea and China. Lander is also co-sponsoring the event.

Lander University has welcomed a group of 20 students and one staff member from the University of Incheon, in South Korea, who will attend a month-long American Language and Cultural Studies program conducted by Lander.

Lander University students and faculty will continue piling up frequent flyer miles over the summer, taking advantage of international study in several countries. Dr. DeWitt Stone, director of Lander's Study Abroad Program, said before the year is out, 13 faculty members will have led 67 students on study tours in Europe, Central America and Asia.

Lander University held a farewell dinner recently for a group of educators from Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon in Bangkok, Thailand, who left for home after completing a one-month American Language and Cultural Studies institute created by Lander's Office of International Programs. Rajamangala is one of Lander's 11 sister schools in Asia.

A delegation of educators from Thailand, who have been taking part in an American Language and Cultural Studies institute at Lander University, appeared before an audience at the university on April 8 to share information about their culture, language and customs.